Oops. That is definitely what I meant to write and NOT what I wrote. Thanks. Fixing now.
Penn State - Drexel Match thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Was at the match last night, great time with a bunch of wrestling buddies. Props to WIBN, it was great having the best seats in the house complete with an open bar and food!
A couple of thoughts:
- Drexel kids came to wrestle last night, especially in the lower weights. Pleasant was a good watch - one of the few kids in the country that can almost match Luke's speed.
- Tough one for my CRS boy, Waterman, but Blaze is so impressive. I was hoping Kyle could hold him off a bit, but no chance. Really hard to believe how good Blaze is so young. Much stronger than he looks too.
- Nasdeo kind of throttled down in the second and it cost him. I'm pretty sure he had the TD in the 3rd, he controlled the 2nd ankle for a full second, it was right in front of us. But no matter, the right kid won, the Drexel kid earned it.
- Saw a remark about Kelly having a smile while in a cradle. If you've watched him wrestle coming up through his career, that's no surprise, he's one of those goofy wrestlers you always want to watch. Great on the mat, really unorthodox, gave the Drexel crowd a boost with the reversal in the 1st. He's so funky it was enjoyable watching SVN roll around with him in his wheelhouse on the mat for a bit, but as I said to my buddy - this will be fun for a while but it will end up with Kelly on his back, SVN's just too good.
- Duke is a monster. The first TD was just brute strength. This from a 19 year old kid wrestling a probably 24-25 year old NQ (7 years ago he was in the ETR finals as a SR). You would have thought Duke was 25 and Nichter was 19 the way he threw him around.
- MM, nothing really to add. He may be the best wrestler in the world at his weight now.
- Queen did a heck of a job surviving against Levi. I thought Levi would pin him at some point in the 2nd or 3rd, maybe up 7-0, or 6-1 something like that, but Queen avoided a lengthy stay on the bottom against him. Yeah, he stalled and probably would have racked up a few more calls if this match was at NCAAs, but he was surviving. Smart, tough wrestler. His dad is a colorful guy, lol.
- Same thing at 184, he may have been defensive, but he was engaging and wrestled Rocco tough. Good showing by Wilson.
- The open bar had gotten to me by 197, so not much to add about the Mirasola's, besides the fact it was nice to see Cole go get that TD late with Casey yelling at him to get it.
- I've been to a couple matches before at Drexel and the crowd was always kind of how it looked in the arena last night an hour before the match. Packed house last night, great to see.
- I was floored when they announced Acevedo was in his 15th year as HC at Drexel. I'm getting way too old, too fast. Seems like yesterday he got the gig.
A couple of thoughts:
- Drexel kids came to wrestle last night, especially in the lower weights. Pleasant was a good watch - one of the few kids in the country that can almost match Luke's speed.
- Tough one for my CRS boy, Waterman, but Blaze is so impressive. I was hoping Kyle could hold him off a bit, but no chance. Really hard to believe how good Blaze is so young. Much stronger than he looks too.
- Nasdeo kind of throttled down in the second and it cost him. I'm pretty sure he had the TD in the 3rd, he controlled the 2nd ankle for a full second, it was right in front of us. But no matter, the right kid won, the Drexel kid earned it.
- Saw a remark about Kelly having a smile while in a cradle. If you've watched him wrestle coming up through his career, that's no surprise, he's one of those goofy wrestlers you always want to watch. Great on the mat, really unorthodox, gave the Drexel crowd a boost with the reversal in the 1st. He's so funky it was enjoyable watching SVN roll around with him in his wheelhouse on the mat for a bit, but as I said to my buddy - this will be fun for a while but it will end up with Kelly on his back, SVN's just too good.
- Duke is a monster. The first TD was just brute strength. This from a 19 year old kid wrestling a probably 24-25 year old NQ (7 years ago he was in the ETR finals as a SR). You would have thought Duke was 25 and Nichter was 19 the way he threw him around.
- MM, nothing really to add. He may be the best wrestler in the world at his weight now.
- Queen did a heck of a job surviving against Levi. I thought Levi would pin him at some point in the 2nd or 3rd, maybe up 7-0, or 6-1 something like that, but Queen avoided a lengthy stay on the bottom against him. Yeah, he stalled and probably would have racked up a few more calls if this match was at NCAAs, but he was surviving. Smart, tough wrestler. His dad is a colorful guy, lol.
- Same thing at 184, he may have been defensive, but he was engaging and wrestled Rocco tough. Good showing by Wilson.
- The open bar had gotten to me by 197, so not much to add about the Mirasola's, besides the fact it was nice to see Cole go get that TD late with Casey yelling at him to get it.
- I've been to a couple matches before at Drexel and the crowd was always kind of how it looked in the arena last night an hour before the match. Packed house last night, great to see.
- I was floored when they announced Acevedo was in his 15th year as HC at Drexel. I'm getting way too old, too fast. Seems like yesterday he got the gig.
I really like when schools like Drexel come to wrestle, Rider, and Rutgers(boom) always seem to as well.
They know they are outmatched but they wrestle us with a chip on their shoulder.
They know they are outmatched but they wrestle us with a chip on their shoulder.
Would I be insane to wonder that in addition to Levi challenging Mitchell for the Hodge, right there with him might be our two freshman?
So to sum up, every Penn State win was by bonus.
We are so spoiled.
We are so spoiled.
Heard Queen's dad was yelling at the refs when his kid got dinged for stalling -- along the lines of "Good call, yeah he's stalling!" Not sure if that were sarcastic or sincere, funny either way.
Not sure, probably would lean the former.
Seen Queen's dad a few times - the Beast, ETR, here - and he's "enthusiastic" and not afraid to mix it up with opposing fans or wrestlers. In short, the standard North Jersey wrestling parent.
Different Sport but a funny “sports parent” story…
Once upon a time in northern Virginia there was an extremely enthusiastic and actually very affable basketball dad who had a somewhat notorious reputation as a ref baiter. So this one game he is really giving it to the ref during his son’s game. The ref blows his whistle, stops the game, walks over to him in the stands, and says for all to hear…
“Mr Chief Justice, that’s enough. You may run your court but am I charge of this one. One more word and you’re outta here!”
Rehnquist was quiet for the rest of the game.
I mean, Rehnquist was only Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
It's not like he was Robin Ficker.
Before we curse another blueblood phenom—like we did Luke—I propose a pact. Never mention “4-time champ potential” until a freshman title is won. This simple act of patience keeps us from wrestling god wrath at our arrogance. And, uh, no, I’m not superstitious at all.
Big difference in looking at a known elite talent entering the PSU room and assuming exponential growth and development versus a known elite talent entering the Iowa room and the assumed growth and development.
In addition to this, 133 is going to be a meat grinder at nationals. It’s not just Ayala, in the Big 10 alone, there’s Byrd, Davino, and Fugitt. Blaze will be right there with them, but this will be one of the toughest classes for anyone to win.Before we curse another blueblood phenom—like we did Luke—I propose a pact. Never mention “4-time champ potential” until a freshman title is won. This simple act of patience keeps us from wrestling god wrath at our arrogance. And, uh, no, I’m not superstitious at all.
You just named 4 guys Marcus will beat… meat grinder, or not. I keep hearing about Davino (and he looks pretty good), but he won’t beat Blaze.
Sure, but Gabe’s hype versus his actual accomplishments coming out of high school aren’t comparable to Blaze.
Nothing in my post disagrees with anything in your post.
I was just pointing out, using 'rule's post as a means of saying it that assuming out loud that Blaze, or Duke for that matter, is a legitimate 4 timer threat is miles different than assuming an Iowa recruit not named Spencer is a 4 timer threat. Other than 125 and 133 Iowa hasn't developed a national champ since Metcalf and Borschel in 2010.
correct. St. John won in 2013 @ 157
also, Stephen Buchanan won in 2025 @ 197, though it's debatable how much of his development can be attributed to Iowa, which seems to be the argument (development) that @Nitlion1986 was making.
Last edited:
Yeah, you are right. Forgot about the Iowa national champ slumlord Bob felt completely comfortable disrespecting with a complete asinine routine.
Yep. Buchanan won a title for Iowa after developing in 3 other rooms. Iowa may have improved his cardio and his toughness and thank God he only spent one year in the room. He was able to receive the benefit without paying the physical wear and tear price.